Bartow Collaborative and United Way of Bartow County are working together on a 2013 community resource guide. If you are an organization, individual or group offering some kind of charitable services in Bartow County please copy/paste the form below and e-mail it to morehouseb@bartowga.org.

As you know, nearly 8 million people have been impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. To respond to this unprecedented storm, United Way of New York City, in coordination with United Way U.S.A., has established a regional fund to address near-term and long-term recovery needs of impacted communities.

Contributions to the fund will be used by United Ways in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia to address recovery needs in communities that FEMA has declared disaster areas. Donors will have the option of designating funds to a particular state or offering general support where the needs are greatest in the region. United Way of New York City and United Way U.S.A. will be working with United Way leaders in each impacted state to develop a transparent and collaborative process for allocating those general funds.

We encourage all United Ways to promote this regional fund in their communities and on their websites. Donations can be made online by visiting www.uwsandyrecovery.org. A $10 donation can be made by texting the word RECOVERY to 52000. Promote the United Way Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund on Twitter using #sandyfund.

Questions on the fund can be directed to Elwanda Young, United Way of New York City, at eyoung@uwnyc.org. For other questions related to United Way’s overall response, contact Linda Daily, United Way Worldwide, at linda.daily@unitedway.org.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by this tragedy, including our United Way colleagues.

Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy made landfall at 8:00 pm EDT on October 29 about 5 miles SW of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sustained winds at landfall were 80 mph.

On October 30, as of 5:00 p.m. EDT the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy was located about 50 miles east-northeast of Pittsburgh, Pa. The system is moving to the west-northwest at about 10 mph. Various watches, warnings and advisories remain in effect from the Northeast coast to the Great Lakes.

As of 7:00 am EDT October 31, there are 6,427,963 customers without power in the affected States.

OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES

There are currently 2,319 American Red Cross disaster responders assigned to the operations in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Virginia and West Virginia.

On the evening of October 30, pertaining to Hurricane Sandy, there were 292 Red Cross and Independent shelters open with 13,655 residents

When users start up iTunes, they’ll find a large American Red Cross donation button situated in the middle of the store’s many music and film offerings. After clicking the menu items users have the option of donating as little as $5 and as much as $200 to the relief organization with a simple click of a button. The message accompanying the donate prompt states, in part, “Your gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief will support disaster relief efforts to help those affected by disasters such as Superstorm Sandy. Your support will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of all disasters.”